Good point! Only so that I can have

  $SIG{"ALRM"} = sub { print "TIME_OUT! at $timeout\n"; exit; };
  alarm ($timeout);
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timeout the (child) process if the connection hangs. I don't really want to fork at all but I need a way of terminating the port check after a number of seconds and to jump to the next port. I tried something like

  $SIG{"ALRM"} = sub { next; };
  alarm($timeout);
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But the SIG does not "happen" inside the loop so the  next fails. timeout the (child) proccess if the connection hangs. I don't realy want to fork at all but I need a way of terminating the port check after a number of secconds and to jump to the next port. I tried something like

  $SIG{"ALRM"} = sub { next; };
  alarm($timeout);
[download]

But the SIG does not "happen" inside the loop so the  nect fails.